The Great Dietary Debate

As we were driving home tonight, stuck in traffic, squeaky windshield wipers toiling away against the dreary rain, the wife and I recalled our day and talked about something or other. Nothing too consequential. Probably about what to scavenge for dinner. We were both pretty tired, but an idea still found enough energy to sneak into the conversation.

Kristina suggested that I learn about, really learn about the major diets out there. Adkins, South Beach, Paleo, Vegetarian, Vegan, Weight Watchers, Mediterranean, The Zone, Jenny Craig, Eat Right for Your Type, Dean Ornish, Protein Power, Body for Life... you get the picture. That's just a small sampling of what's out there!

There's a lot of nutritional dogma out there and we hear a lot of ideas from a lot of people (lots of vendors soliciting our office... ugh). All in the name of health, all with good intentions. An almost universal underlying tone is "this idea is the best". But is it? Is there a best approach? Has someone discovered the secret information?

My hypothesis is no. Of course, it's easy to guess that.

It's fun to believe in some magical fruit from the Amazon or a diet from some previously unheard of culture that routinely cranks out 150 year old super humans that can crush rocks with their bare hands. But at the end of the day, we know that there's no one-size-fits-all program. The fact remains that when we span the globe, humanity has subsisted on, and even thrived upon very different diets.

What I do hope to find are good underlying principles, some common themes, some common ties, unique approaches, and some yummy recipes... mainly just some understanding of what makes these ideas click for some people. I will let you all know what I find out so that you can share in my insights and see if a light comes on for some ideas to incorporate into your lives... Thinking down the road, maybe I'll have my own Top 10 Bestseller. :)

But I'll save that idea for another rainy day.

For now, I'll do my reading and periodically turn in my book reports as I plow through these different diets. Stay tuned!

Starting Off

OK, here we go into the world of blogging! I want to use this format as a way to organize my thoughts about health, synthesize information I learn about, and translate it all for you, my readers.

A Naturopathic Doctor sees health from a multitude of perspectives. We learn the science, read the research, and know how to interpret a person's medical history. We also understand the value of holistic thinking. Philosophy is extremely important. How I view health is as important as what I know about health. My job is to put complex information together and make it make sense to you so that you can enjoy the best health possible. After all, without health, what have we got?

I want this to be interactive. Let me know what you want to know about! Otherwise, I'll talk about food and exercise and stuff that is important to me.

Use me! I enjoy learning new things and making it understandable for those without medical training. I'm a good translator. :)

Part of my posting will be about food and nutrition. What are healthy foods? What are unhealthy choices? I don't subscribe to conventional nutritional wisdom... so what you can expect is my interpretation of what is best to eat for health based on solid concepts, backed by biochemical science, and demonstrated by people like you.

An admission is that I'm a biochemistry and nutrition nerd. Love studying it, love researching it, love telling people about it. I am blessed to have many patients that are health conscious, and they seem to tolerate my dietary education, even when I get off on tangents. Most even follow it! Yea!

As a result, I benefit from their experiences- when a person feels better or worse after they make a change in their diet, I gain valuable information. I then pass this on.

I also love exercise. I've always been involved in sports and athletics. Fitness is not just a means to a healthier end, it can be fun, and it can be a great part of your life. I also take an outside the box approach to exercise. If it's fun, unique, and valuable, I'll tell you about it. If it's boring, pass. Exercise shouldn't be like a sentence to hard labor. If it isn't fun, don't do it!

Part of my goal is to post videos. This should be really useful for exercise stuff. Hold me to this.

Diet and exercise are but two of many topics in the world of health. Lifestyle, supplementation, stress reduction, current topics... there's an infinite amount of topics to cover. Let's have some fun with this and use it to be healthier and happier!

Be your best!
Dr. Eric